INTRODUCING parking charges on Aberystwyth seafront will only happen if “there are compelling reasons”, a traffic meeting has heard.

The council is currently considering whether it will charge motorists to park on the seafront after it was one of a number of proposals put forward by consultants.

But Cllr Alun Williams, the Cabinet member responsible for highways, said he would not support such a major change to parking in Aberystwyth unless there were sound reasons and said consultants have so far failed to provide adequate justification for the move.

Consultants Price WaterhouseCooper had estimated that the council could make an additional £66,000 income from charging for 80 parking spaces on the length of the promenade, with the PwC business case even proposing that charging for overnight parking could be a possibility.

Speaking at an Aberystwyth Traffic Management Consultative Committee though, Cllr Williams said he needed to be persuaded that introducing the charges was justified and that had not happened with council officials still in discussions with the consultants.

Cllr Williams said he was “a bit disappointed” that no proposal had been drawn up yet.

However, he said: “Introducing charges there would take some pretty compelling reasons and they haven’t been provided so far.”

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